Gour Express is an express train of the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

connecting

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

with the district of Malda via

Barddhaman Bardhaman (, ), officially Bardhaman Sadar, is a city and municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an a ...

Rampurhat Rampurhat is an important city and a municipality in Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Rampurhat subdivision. According to the 2011 census, Rampurhat is the third most populous city in Birbhum ...

. The train covers a distance of up to Malda with the numbers 13153/54.

Timeline

The Gour Express commenced operations as a triweekly express service between

Sealdah Sealdah is a neighbourhood of Central Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Etymology Jackals (''sheal'' in Bengali) howled around Sealdah. Antiquarians identify it as Shrigaldwipa (Jackal Island). Nearby Beliaghata ...

and Malda from 20 April 1980. The train proved successful and the then railway minister A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury played a key role in increasing the frequency of the service. On 2 October 1982, he flagged off the first run of the train as a daily service

Important stoppages

* * * * * * * * * * * * (only for 13154 service) * * *

Timings

# 13153 leaves Sealdah around 22:05 everyday and reaches Malda Town at 5:55 next day. # 13154 departs Malda Town around 21:25 everyday and reaches Sealdah at 5:00 next day.

Coach composition

The train consists of 21 passenger coaches. The train runs with the following coach composition - * 1 Composite 1st A/C * 3 A/C 2-tier coaches * 2 A/C 3-tier coaches * 9 Non-A/C sleeper coaches * 4 Unreserved sleeper coaches (UR) * 1 Luggage-cum-Guard coaches with unreserved seating (SLR) * 1 End on Generation (EOG) Of these, one Luggage-cum-Guard, one unreserved sleeper, three reserved non-A/C sleeper, one A/C 3-tier and one A/C 2-tier coach were used for the through service between Sealdah and Balurghat (now closed).

Traction

As the route from Sealdah to Malda is fully electrified, it is hauled by a Howrah/Sealdah-based

WAP-4 The Indian locomotive class WAP-4 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1993 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Passenger traffic (P) l ...

WAP-7 The Indian locomotive class WAP-7 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1999 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Passenger traffic ...

throughout its entire journey.

References